Sir: In the wake of the recent IAEA report on Iran’s nuclear programme, Israel and its western allies are once again planning a military confrontation with Iran. The bad results and huge expenditures of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars prove that wars provide nothing except death, destruction, and a waste of money. Confrontation and exchange of hard statements continue between both countries. Iran has renewed its threat repeatedly to close access to the Straits of Hormuz and cutting 24 percent of the world’s oil supply from its market. The US navy has said that Iran’s threat to block the strategically and economically important Straits of Hormuz is unacceptable. At the time when the world is facing awful economic and financial crises, things are going from bad to worse in the eurozone and European leaders are trying hard to bail out affected countries, new governments in France and Greece find it hard to fulfil the dreams of their people. Any new war adventure by the US and its allies will add further to the miseries in the lives of poor people. Things are already worsening in the Horn of Africa where aid agencies are in urgent need of money and food from developing countries to carry out their aid activities. Iran is a main oil-producing country. The conflict between Iran and Israel could push oil prices higher if the Straits of Hormuz are closed to oil tankers. Oil prices are already touching above $ 100 a barrel in the international market and due to increasing oil prices, the economies of poor countries have already suffered badly. In case of any new war in the region, the use of modern weapons, large numbers of air strikes and civilian deaths will add further anger against the US and Israel in the Muslim world. KHAWAJA UMER FAROOQ Jeddah, Saudi Arabia